Frederick 'Freddie' Paxton
Freddie is a character from the book series Rose, who appears in every book in the series. He is Mr Fountain's apprentice, and Rose's friend. History Freddie's father went to university with Mr Fountain, and Mr Fountain took Freddie on as a apprentice as a favour to him. Freddie is first mentioned in the book Rose. Bill, the footman, is telling Rose about the family, and he tells her Freddie broke a Ming vase falling down the stairs. Rose first meets Freddie when she is listening to the house's magic sounds while lost at the top of some stairs. Freddie talks down to Rose and gives her directions back to the kitchens. She next sees him while she is cleaning the workroom. He appears to be reading Prendegarst's Perfect Primer, but when Rose goes to get a closer look, she finds he is reading a comic concealed in the pages. Rose then comes into the workroom again, only to find Gus and Freddie fighting a elemental sprit they unleashed. She banishes it, and Freddie is outraged that she is better at magic than he is. He says she isn't magic and sends her away. Later that night, Freddie comes to Rose's bedroom, egged on by Gus to apologise, and he proves Rose is magic when hurling her candlestick at the wall to make her use magic to catch it. He tries to persuade her to be an apprentice, but she refuses, and he agrees to keep it secret. The next day he confides to Rose while she is cleaning the workroom that he finds Miss Sparrow 'hateful', and asks Rose to look at her. He then helps Rose scry and also helps her break into the orphanage to get Maisie's locket. On their way back, when they are attacked by street children accusing them of kidnapping their sister, he creates a wall of harmless fire to scare them. He is kidnapped by Miss Sparrow alongside Isabella and Rose. He defends Isabella from Jack and creates a light in a marble. He also helps perform the spell that binds the magic to all of them. He, along with Gus and Rose, fight and defeats Miss Sparrow. He then persuades Mr Fountain to take on Rose as an extra apprentice. Personality Freddie at first seems pompous, arrogant, spoilt, rude, and snobbish who is much disliked downstairs, especially by Bill. He talks down to the servants, and treats Rose like dirt before she reveals her powers. He is scared and angry when she demonstrates her superior power, but is soon persuaded by Gus to apologise. He is then revealed to be cynical, intelligent, brave and gracious, but is still a bit snobbish. He soon becomes great friends with Rose and likes Isabella, although at times he finds her wearisome and spoilt. Freddie likes showing off his superior knowledge of magic to Rose whenever he can, usually with a smirk,and probably because he is slightly jealous of her. He is constantly surprised by Rose's humble and kind nature, and her poor upbringing, and he can be very blunt with her. He and Bill dislike each other very much at first, but as the series goes on begins to have a grudging respect towards each other. They have a very similar taste in comics. He and Gus have always been good friends, although Gus is often more of a teacher than a friend to Freddie. He and Mr Fountain also get along very well. Powers He is shown to have slightly less power than Rose, although he is still quite powerful. He is shown to be extremely good with lights and fires, whether real or just an illusion.